It turns out, eating tons of spinach won’t turn you into Popeye the Sailor Man.
But it might make you swear like a sailor man, instead.
If you’ve never passed a stone, imagine you ate a piece of glass that slowly moves through your system, but decides to exit the front door instead of the (much wider) back door.
After starting a new health journey in 2016 I was feeling GREAT. I was off the carbs and on the spinach. (aka, I was eating lots of spinach at least daily).
But then one day I woke up and something was off. I noticed a strange pain in my stomach. It gradually increased throughout the morning.
“Yo Melissa, you have any Tums?” I asked my friend who sat next to me at work.
By the afternoon it progressed from stomach pain to back pain. Strange.
I went into the bathroom and just sat on the toilet. I didn’t poop or pee.
I just sat there perplexed, trying to figure out what was going on. Something wasn’t right.
I had to leave the office. I hobbled home and with each step, a sharp pain increased. It felt like a piece of glass poking an inner organ, which I now felt near my lower back.
My backpack made it even more painful so I took it off and carried it instead. I remember wondering if this was maybe similar to what going into labor was like. (Spoiler: I didn’t give birth. But something did exit my body).
Finally, more than 5 hours later… After Ubering to a MedCheck in pain and confusion the nurse had a synopsis. She said this was most likely a kidney stone.
Uhh a kidney stone? Isn’t that for old dudes? I guess not.
Exactly 3 weeks later, I passed the kidney stone on Thanksgiving night. Again couldn’t help but draw parallels to giving birth. But more on that in a bit.
Let’s back up. I knew there were TONS of health benefits to spinach (hence my lavish consumption). But I had no idea there was a significant risk to consuming TOO MUCH spinach.
That’s because of a random compound I had no idea existed… It’s called oxalate.
Oxalate is the culprit of most calcium-based stones (the majority of kidney stones). And as it turns out, spinach is literally OFF THE CHART in oxalate.
This first chart is of high oxalate foods to “Worry About” up to 100 mg of oxalate per serving.
Now here is another chart of “Foods to Avoid” which is literally off the chart of oxalate, so they have their own chart (over 100 mg of oxalate).
A typical diet can be about 250 mg of oxalate a day. But for my fellow stone-passers, the goal is to be below 100mg a day. Ideally no more than 50 mg of oxalate per day. (Plus a few other guidelines I listed at the bottom.)
So after the MedCheck, Emergency Room visit, and several trips to Northwestern Medicine Urologist… I was determined to learn what happened and how to prevent these in the future.
Northwestern Medicine’s website claims the “nation’s most experienced well respected” Urology Program. So I was initially confused why after finally retrieving the stone and bringing it to them, they referred me to a “kidney stone consultant” via a Facebook group.
For those wondering at home, here’s a pic of my labor of love (and spinach).
But I took doc’s advice and hopped on the phone with Jill Harris my kidney stone consultant who runs Kidney Stone Diet. She was SUPER helpful and taught me so much. She also partners with the University of Chicago to publish some of the leading research on kidney stones such as “How to Eat a Low Oxalate Diet” which I highly recommend reading.
I learned a TON through this experience. Here are the 3 biggest lessons I still use today (and haven’t gotten another stone).
Biggest Takeaways
#1 Calcium 🧲
The majority of kidney stones are calcium-based. So it makes sense we want to limit our calcium intake.
Oxalate is like a giant magnet for calcium in our body (hence it forms stones). Counterintuitively, if you do eat high oxalate foods, you should consume them WITH calcium. This gives them the necessary calcium on the way down to leave the body, instead of forming deposits. Example: pair almonds (oxalate) with cheese (calcium).
Here were my lab results after wayyy too much calcium:
PRO TIP: your doctor will likely use Litholink for your lab report. They normally just give you numbers, but you can request a colored chart like the above so you can actually understand it.
#2 Sodium 🧂
Limit your sodium intake. Mine was too high.
Good news is that you can normally find “low-sodium” versions of foods at the grocery store that basically taste the same.
#3 Water 💧
The last big lesson is water. Like the doc always says “a gallon a day, keeps the kidney stones away.”
Now, one could argue… a gallon of water is a LOT of water to drink in a single day.
I would argue… that a kidney stone is a LOT of surface area to leave your pee-pee. Drink up.
All and all, this was surprisingly a great experience. It made me appreciate a new threshold of pain. Also, it turns out the majority of people are dehydrated. So now I have a STRONG incentive to drink water daily.
That being said, I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Share this with any of your spinach lover friends out there.
PS. I am not a doctor. This was just my experience. I passed one stone and following these guidelines, I haven’t passed another since. Consult your doc for more info.